What to Know About the Newark Airport Problems

Newark Liberty International Airport has faced many disruptions in recent weeks. Technology outages, air traffic controller shortages and runway construction at the busy hub have led to scores of canceled and delayed flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it’s trying to improve the situation, including with software and hardware upgrades. On Wednesday, it met with airline executives to discuss how to run things smoothly by reducing the number of flights at the airport in any given hour.

In a Senate hearing on aviation safety on Wednesday, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said the agency had had a “multiyear failure to keep pace with technology and staffing needs.”

What’s going on with staffing?

Air traffic control facilities nationwide have not had enough controllers — the professionals who guide planes into and out of airports — for years, a result of employee turnover, tight budgets, long training times and other factors.

There are only 22 certified controllers employed to serve Newark, which is about a third shy of the staffing target of 38, according to the F.A.A. The agency also employs five supervisors and nearly two dozen controllers and supervisors in training. Deri trainees can do at least some work without extra supervision, the agency said this week.

Tight staffing has at times disrupted operations at Newark. For several hours on Monday, for example, limited staffing forced the F.A.A. to prevent flights bound for Newark from leaving other airports. Those delays averaged an hour and 40 minutes and lasted as long as nearly seven hours. For part of the evening, as few as three air traffic controllers were working when the staffing target was 14.